Do you replace your tires based on wear, mileage or age?

[tvguy]

Do you replace your tires based on when they wear out, at a certain mileage, or at a certain age? Or another reason?
The tire industry has started recommending tires be replaced six years after they were made for safety reasons. The concern is that tires with 10's of thousands of miles of tread life left, may suffer internal structural failure. Some common brands however, have a warranty of up to 90,000 miles. Not sure your average driver would ever wear out a tire in six years.

I have three cars.
1) My car. I replaced the tires at 4 years of age and 14,000 miles because pieces of the tread were coming off in chunks. This is apparently a common issue with Hankook tires, but allegedly NOT a safety concern. The current Michelin tires are 4 years old, and have 20,000 miles on them. I expect to replace them at six years of age because this car is used for trips that are either 2 to 3 miles, or 400 miles at freeway speeds.
2 My wife's car will be 6 years old in July, but the Firestone tires were made in March of 2020 and have 34,000 miles on them. The tread looks like it could go another 40,000 miles I have a trusted tire dealer and I will have them inspected in March. At this point I am prepared to replace them then for safety's sake. Trips in that car are either 2 to 3 miles in town, or 400 miles at freeway speeds, often in 100 degree weather.
3) My classic car, the BF Goodrich tires are 10 years old and have about 8,000 miles on them. My trusted tire dealer says they are fine for driving a few miles to car shows, and for Sunday drives but would not recommend taking a long trip in hot weather with them. I plan to replace them within the next few months.

I support safety first, but it is hard not to question whether the tire industry is just trying to sell more tires.

How do you decide when it is time for new tires?

 

[leebee]

When they won't pass inspection or are really close, I replace them.

 

[Disneylover99]

We consider wear, mileage, age and weather conditions.
Our winters are often rough.
But we also have snow tires on for about 5 months of the year. So we have to factor in replacing those as well.

 

[Meriweather]

When my auto person tells me they need to be replaced.

 

[Living42Day]

I replace my tires about every 2 years, as I drive around 20,000-25,000 miles per year. I did replaced the latest set a bit earlier as we did a 14 hour/one way road trip but that is generally my timeframe.

 

[kdonnel]

I keep them until the tread says they need to be replaced.

The average driver, 14000 miles a year, would have no problem exceeding the tread life before a tire gets too old.

Does anyone actually get 90000 miles out of tires?

 

[Skippy918]

I use the tread as a guideline. I replaced my tires when they were about 8 yo and the tread was worn down. I average about 6-7k miles a year.

 

[amcnj]

I used to exclusively use the tread depth. My commute was rather long, the tires I purchased were typically 50-70,000 mile tires, and I would reach or exceed the tire mileage ratings before replacement. I never had 90,000 mile tires.

Now I drive much less. The last time I replaced tires they still had a little tread life left, and I normally would have waited a few months more, but they were showing significant dry rot cracking. The dry rot coupled with a then current tire promotion which resulted in one tire being free, convinced me to just go ahead and replace them a little ahead of my normal schedule. The tires were about 8 years old at the time.

 

[ford family]

We drive less than 2,500 miles a year as we are in the UK and use public transport for most local journeys

We would depend on the garage advising us if we needed to change our tyres when we have our annual service.

ford family

 

[Kitty 34]

When our thread is worn.

 

[clappyclaps]

I replace mine whenever they're worn out and need replacing. However most of my tyres don't get to that point as they wind up with irreparable punctures well before they get worn out, and need replacing at that point instead

 

[ronandannette]

We consider wear, mileage, age and weather conditions.
Our winters are often rough.
But we also have snow tires on for about 5 months of the year. So we have to factor in replacing those as well.

I lease my vehicles, usually on a 36-month term. We also run snow tires, so for the past 20'ish years I've never driven a vehicle long enough to have the tires wear out. My current ride came with All Weather (different than all season) tires that will stay on all year. I'm interested to see how well they wear.

 

[Disneylover99]

I lease my vehicles, usually on a 36-month term. We also run snow tires, so for the past 20'ish years I've never driven a vehicle long enough to have the tires wear out. My current ride came with All Weather (different than all season) tires that will stay on all year. I'm interested to see how well they wear.

We’re looking to buy a new car in the next year or so. And we’ve been thinking about switching to All Weather tires as well.

 

[ronandannette]

We’re looking to buy a new car in the next year or so. And we’ve been thinking about switching to All Weather tires as well.

They don't claim to perform as well on ice and snow as dedicated winter tires, but they definitely are some better than all-season. I'm keeping myself a little more cautions, but so far it's a decent trade-off for the convenience. New cars don't come with them so bargain them into the deal; you should get some sort of credit back for the standard ones but the all-weathers will cost a bit more.

 

[Disneylover99]

They don't claim to perform as well on ice and snow as dedicated winter tires, but they definitely are some better than all-season. I'm keeping myself a little more cautions, but so far it's a decent trade-off for the convenience. New cars don't come with them so bargain them into the deal; you should get some sort of credit back for the standard ones but the all-weathers will cost a bit more.

This is what makes me a bit leery of them, especially since it’s been a particularly brutal winter so far. But the thought of not having to switch them on/off twice a year is enticing.